Flight Centre has released a snapshot of Aotearoa’s year in travel – and it’s revealed some key trends.

The travel agency said Kiwis have been looking to level up their in-flight experience after the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We saw an overall increase in premium economy, business and first-class flight bookings for 2023 compared with the prior year,” the NZ Year in Travel 2023 report read. There was another added cost that saw its popularity rise as well.

“It seems following a disruptive year of travel in 2022 – the need for insurance was more apparent to Kiwis.

“Almost 25% of customers added insurance to their bookings with Flight Centre in 2022 and this increased to just over 30% in 2023.”

Other safety nets – such as baggage tracked and zero cancellation fees – also saw big boosts in popularity.

“It’s been no secret that there have been a few teething issues as airlines and airports around the world worked hard to recruit and re-train staff to keep up with high demand once borders reopened,” Flight Centre NZ general manager Heidi Walker said.

Who’s travelling overseas and where are they going?

A full 30% of Flight Centres 2023 bookings were made by Kiwis travelling solo, with an average age of 53.

“They’re at a point in their life where they’re independent and are happy to spend their well-earned money to tick destinations off their list that they may have dreamt about for some time, even if that means going alone,” Walker said.

London, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Manila, Perth, Nadi, Bangkok, Apia and Singapore were the top destinations for this group.

The next-biggest demographic was couples, taking out 27% of Flight Centre’s bookings for the year. Their average age was 55.

“They are often empty nesters with more disposable income to spend on things like travel,” Walker explained.

“Romantic, adults-only resorts at warm destinations like Fiji or Rarotonga are always popular with this demographic.”

Families made 9% of the agency’s bookings for the year, and small groups were responsible for 7% of bookings.

The travel agency’s made some big predictions for 2024 as well.

“The great news is that we’re expecting airline capacity to move closer to 100% of what it was pre-Covid in 2024,” Walker said.

“This means Kiwis will have more options on places to go and ways to get there, plus more competitive pricing across the board.”

However, Flight Centre expects travellers will bear the exchange rate in mind with their choices.